Reenforced vitreous panel and method of making the same



Nov. 14, 1933. w T RN 1,935,583

REENFORCED VITREOUS PANEL AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Jan. 27, 1930 2 w- 9 ll alier JK T/Zur/z '30; vitreous panel in the usual ,way,

- the bottom layer of the panel Patented Nov. 14, 1933 UNITED sr REENFoRoEn v.1

METHOD or S P TENT F C I raEoUs PANEL AND MAKING THE SAME Walter N.' Thurn, Chicago, I ll;, assignr to The Vitrolite Company, ginia;

Application '15 Claims. (or. 49-86;

I The present inventionrelates particularly to panels, slabs or" other large bodies of vitreous material, or what may be termed opaque structural glass, and their manufacture. Elements of this kind are made by casting a molten batch containing, inaddition to silicaQwhich forms the mainconstituent of glass, various ingredients to render.

the product opaque and cause it to have any desired color. The molten batch is deposited upon 0; a casting table and rolled out into a sheet; or,

ZZQ easily than is desirable when subjected to blows or to distorting stresses while in use; this'objectionable characteristic having against the employment of this material in cer-' tain fields as, for example, interiors andexteriorsv v for buildings.

- Viewed in its several aspects, the present inven tion may be said to have for its object to overcome the objections above enumerated;

' In carrying out my invention I form the opaque casting it, however, upon a comparatively stifi metal reenforcing structure, preferably, a .sheet of expanded metal of a shape similar to the well known forms of expanded metal lath. The reenforcing structure is thus embedded in the under sideof the panel, close to and parallel with the under face.

The reenforcing structure contains sufficient' nlass so that the effect of the same and the under.- lying casting table is to cool what may be termed and cause it quickly to 'congeal. Consequently, when the sheet or panel is removed from the casting table to the annealing ovens, the bottom of the panel has hardened sufiiciently to form a firm foundation for the overlying softer vitreous body and consequently the top of the panel will retain its original flat condition. Thereafter, if a a panel is broken in use, the parts will be held together by v the reenforcing structure. a Afurther advantage of my improved process is that the placing of the reenforcing fabric close to one face of the panel makes it possible to provide satisfactory means for anchoring a panel securely, to a wall without interfering with the best 1 militated' recognized practice of out depreciation of the The various features Vention is characterized will hereinafter a corporation of West Vir- January 27, 1930. seria1'NoI'42a694.

making panels and withquality of the panels.

of novelty whereby'myinbe pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for? a fullunderstanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to' the following detailed description taken in conin:- I

1 Figures 1. and 2 are nection with the accompanying drawing, where.-

respectively a side View and a top view: of afragment of. a casting table,

illustrating more or less diagrammatically the carrying out of my improved method; Fig. 3 is a rear view of a fragment portion being shown in through the panel at right broad faces, only a fra shown; and Fig. 5 is a of a completed panel, a section; Fig. 4 is a section angles to one of the. gment of the panel being diagrammatic illustration ofa modified arrangement of rolls cooperatingv with the casting table.

Referring to the drawing, nary casting table and table is adapted to be 1 represents an ordi -2 a roll under which the movedin the, process of rolling out a molten massto form a, sheet or slab. In'accordancewith my invention, I lay on the table a sheet'of metal reenforcing material 3 be fore'depositing the molten mass 4. I have found that the best results are obtained by employing a' comparatively stiff reenforcing sheet having considerable mass as, metal 'ofithe expanded paratively small for example, expanded metal lath type of com-r mesh. In the arrangementj shown, the reenforcing structure is metal expanded to form diamond mesh the broad faces of whose strands lie at an acute sheet. I

When the tame with angle to the plane of'the the overlying reenforcing sheet'is ,movedtowardthe right in Figs. land 2, themolten vitreous material is flattened out and pressed through the intersticesv ing ;material, producing having the reenforcing bottom thereof In practice the in the reenforca fiat slab or panel 5 fabric embedded in the top faces of the casting tables are not smooth but are provided with numerous,

closely-spaced, tiny ridges end tothe other. In effect,

is pressed below the plane of vitreous material the underside of the sulting in completely extending from one therefore, the molten expanded metal, as it is caused to fill the valleys betweenthe ridges; re-

embedding the expanded metal, within the body of the, panel but closefto and at a definite distance from a fiat plane touching thesmall, ridges on the back or under face of the panel. These ridges are indicated at 6, but they have been partly omitted from Fig. 3 for the purpose of permitting the eifect of the expanded metal on the back or under face of the panel to be more clearly seen. The strands, as will be apparent from Fig. 4, are inclined lengthwise to the plane of the sheet, so that some portions of the strands come closer to the surface of the sheet than do others. This results, where the ordinary standard casting table is used, in little depressions 7 in the back or under face of the sheet, along the near portions of the strands, because the molten material has not been able to flow into the little valleys in the table at these points to a greater depth than will serve to cover the strands.

The casting table may be magnetized so as to insure that the expanded metal will be held down in a flat condition, although I have found that good results without employing a magnetized table can be obtained.

Furthermore, the reenforcing fabric may be made of rustless iron or other non-rusting material that will be strong enough and not deteriorate under the heat to which it is subjected and that has the proper coeificient of expansion. It is necessary that the reenforcing fabric be clean. It is not in all cases essential that the fabric be heated before being placed on the table, although it may be heated to a high enough temperature to burn off any oil or grease, and to pre-expand the fabric before it is-placed on the table.

Thick panels are usually rolled in several layers. In such cases, in addition to the reenforcing near an outer face of the panel there may be other reenforcing sheets placed between the layers. In some cases, where built-up panels are required to have both faces polished, they may be reenforced by simply placing the reenforcing fabric between the layers.

My improved panels are not only free from distortion, but they are very strong and adapted for uses that have not heretofore been open to this type of material. A very important feature is the facility with which the panels may be anchored successfully to the "face of a wall, through the reenforcing material; thus making possible the use of vitreous opal panels for facing the outside walls of tall buildingsas well as other high walls. Specific means for so anchoring panels are claimedin another application, however.

, In Fig. 5 there is shown a modified arrangement of rolls for rolling out the panels. In addition to the roll 2 there is another roll 8 placed in advance thereof. The molten batch is poured upon the table between these rolls which have a squeezing effect on the same before flattening it upon the table; thereby working out gas bubbles that might otherwise produce defects in the finished product. There may also be a third roll, as indicated at 9, ahead of the roll 8. This third roll is adapted to rest on the fabric near the point where it engages the molten vitreous material, so as to aid in causing the fabric to lie fiat on the table. The reenforcing fabric being laid on the table to the right of the roll 9, the table is moved toward the left, under the rolls, and the molten vitreous material is poured between the rolls 2 and 8 at the proper time to'position the advance end of the reenforcing fabric at the desired point with respect to the advance end of the sheet or panel.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only the best form of my invention now known to me I do not desire to'be limited to the details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim: V

l. The method of making a cast reenforced vitreous panel, which consists in laying directly on top of a casting table a sheet of expanded metal, and casting a panel of vitreous material upon the top of said expanded metal.

2. The method of making a cast reenforced vitreous panel,which consists in heating a sheet of expanded metal, laying. the sheet directly on the top of a casting table and, while the sheet is still hot but much cooler than the molten vitreous material, casting a panel of vitreous material upon said sheet. V

3. The method of producing. a cast vitreous panel having an undistorted fire-finished; face, which consists in casting a panel of vitreous ma-- terial upon a comparatively stiff sheet of expanded metal.

4. The method of producing a cast vitreous panel having an undistorted fire-finished face,

which consists'in casting a panel of vitreous material upon a comparatively stiff sheet of-exe panded metal composed of bonded strands whose wide faces make an acuteangle with the plane of the sheet. a

5. The method of producing a cast vitreous panel having an undistorted fire-finished face,

which consists in laying directly on. top of acast-. ing table a comparatively stiff fiat sheet of expanded metal the broad faces of whose strands form an acute angle with the plane of the sheet;

and then casting a panel of vitreous material upon said sheet. 1

6. The method of producing a reenforced cast vitreous panel having an undistorted fire-finished face, which consists in casting a panel of vitreous material upon a comparatively stiff sheet of 1ex-, panded metal suiiiciently massive and cool enough to cause the adjacent lower portions of the molten mass, while lying on. the casting table, to congeal quickly relatively to the upperpart. of the mass. v

7. The method of producing a f reenforced vitreous panel which consists in laying on a magnetized casting table a metal fabric of magnetic material and, 'while the fabric is held down on the table, casting thereon a panel'of vitreous ma terial.

8. A cast vitreous panel having a comparatively stiff flat sheet of expanded metal embedded therein and lying close to and parallel with the face of the panel that lay upon the casting table. during the casting process. V f

9. A cast vitreous panel having embedded there-' in and positioned close and parallel to the face that lay upon the casting table during the cast ing operation, a flat, comparatively stiff sheet of expanded metal and broad faces of whose strands make an acute angle with said face. I

10. An opaque vitreous panel having a comparatively stiff expanded metal sheet embedded in the body thereof and lying near and parallel to one face of the panel.

11. The method of producing a reenforced panel of opaque vitreous material which consists in laying a comparatively stiff sheet of expanded metal directly upon a flat rigid base member, covering the sheet with molten opal'vitreous mathe molten material terial, and rolling the molten vitreous material into the interstices in the sheet.

12. The method of producing a reenforced cast v vitreous panel having an undistorted fire-finished panel having embedded therein near the face the casting operation of the panel that lay upon the casting table during and remote from the opposite face a comparatively stiff sheet of expanded metal. H

14. A cast and rolled opaque structural glass panel having embedded therein near the face of v the panel that lay upon the casting operation and remote from the opposite face a comparatively stiff sheet of expanded metal of the diamond mesh'type.

V 15. A cast and rolled opaque structural glass panel flat on the side thatlay upon the casting table during the casting operation, and a comparatively. stiff sheet of expanded metal embedded in said panel near the aforesaid side and remote from the opposite side.

. WALTER N. THURN.

the casting table during 

